Marco Simoncelli leaves Malaysia with the fastest lap

By the time Marco Simoncelli took off his motorcycle leathers on the final day of the first MotoGP test, he had shocked the paddock by setting the fastest time overall.

The San Carlo Gresini Honda rider is using the same factory engine as Repsol riders Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner, and it showed with a series of very quick times.

Simoncelli revealed that as soon as he went out on track in his motorcycle clothing, he had a good feeling about the bike's performance.

He added that the team had also worked extremely hard to ensure that developments were made with new parts, which includes the set-up of the Ohlins forks.

"Taking into account that this is not one of my favourite circuits we have still managed to build on our consistency from yesterday and this morning I was able to set an awesome lap," the Italian said.